We share more of our favorite nature books for kids here and some favorites for adults here.
Happy Earth Day! Come along for a little glimpse at why we love this book. Continue reading
Category Archives: Favorite Gear
Crafting with Kids: Knitting Looms
Knitting looms are a great tool for helping young kids make useful garments and play items out of yarn. Click through to see a variety of looms and how we use them.
Baking with Kids : Halloween Style
Cooking with Kids is an ongoing series where we share recipes that are easy enough to make with assistance from a two-year-old. If you’re new to the series, our first post provides detailed tips for cooking baking with little ones.
On Tuesday Sarah shared a Halloween appetizer. Yesterday I shared a well-wrapped main dish, and today we’re sharing the dessert that’s sure to make your little trick-or-treaters squirm giggle.
The focus of this Cooking with Kids post is all on the decorating, and in this post we give you sources for all of our fun supplies (including the spider cupcake holders!). Kids LOVE decorating treats, and Halloween is the perfect time to let them go wild. Make it spooky, creepy, silly, cute. It definitely doesn’t have to be perfect. And that’s what makes this project such a hit with big and little people.
I like to plan projects for us to do throughout the season, some more time and energy intensive than others. Decorating spider cupcakes purposefully falls on the easier side. It’s something that you could do on an afternoon when you want to add a little bit of Halloween excitement (and sugar!) to their day.
Bento Box Eggs
Eggs are our ingredient of the season. That link will take you to our archive of egg posts.
Have you heard or seen the crazy awesome bento box lunches that Japanese mom’s make for their kids? Apparently some moms spend hours every morning crafting these works of art… we aren’t suggesting that you do that, but we do have a couple of fun tools that can make snack time more fun and funny. Continue reading
Kids’ Nature Books
We know, we know, it’s amazon prime day. If you’re in the shopping mood, below are a few of our favorite nature books for kids.
We feel that it’s very important to have an understanding of and appreciation for the natural world, and we believe that both of those things should start as early as possible in a child’s life.
One of the easiest ways to help children learn about nature is to spend time outdoors. Most children are naturally curious, and as they play and explore in nature, they will begin to ask questions about plants and animals, the habitats and ecosystems where they live, and the larger world around them. This is a great time to begin answering those questions and to work together to research the answers when they are unknown to either of you.
And that leads to our second way to help children learn about the natural world and our relationship with it : books!
Books are obviously a great resource for teaching children. They are a reference when helping to answer a child’s questions, and they can provide insights into places and times that we’ve never been, which is awesome for awakening a child’s imagination. Of course, that will likely raise more questions, and the cycle continues!
Below are a few of our current favorite nature books for kids. Some of these are straight-up reference guides, while others provide that magical view into another world (because how many of us have actually seen the hidden world of animals under the snow or experienced the immense pressure and heat at the center of the Earth?!).
The Best Travel Shoes for Women
Sorry dudes! I don’t want to mislead you and have you think I know the best travel shoes for you, I have a good idea of what they are, but I definitely know the best travel shoes for women. I’m not going to overwhelm you with a huge list. These are my all-time favorite travel shoes and of course, they’re more style suggestions than anything. You don’t have to get the exact brands and colors to make them a great shoe, but here’s what I’ve worn around the world. I’ve only walked on six continents though so who knows, there could be one I’m missing. Continue reading
Easter Basket Idea : Letters & Numbers
We are big fans of curating Easter baskets that are fun and educational. For example, last year the boys went bonkers for their bug-themed baskets.
This year we are deep into all things letters and numbers. Admittedly, these theme doesn’t sound that exciting, but as you’ll see below, there are a few basket-worthy items that would serve the dual purpose of being fun/enjoyable while being educational.
- jenga-type game, but with numbered blocks! I know that the boys will love these for a variety of reasons. They just learned Jenga and will be excited to play. We can use the numbers and dice for a variation on the game – for example, deciding which block to remove by rolling the dice. The boys can also using the blocks to work on putting the numbers in order, doing simple math, etc.
- alphabet & number magnets : I went with this pack because it had two sets of lower-case letters, one set of upper-case, and two sets of numbers. Plenty of material for spelling and doing math problems at the fridge.
- 7 ate 9 : a super cute mystery based on that groaner of a joke that cracks my kids up.
- Today I feel… an Alphabet of Feelings : It’s the perfect 1-2 punch of going through the alphabet while putting words to the wide variety of emotions they may feel.
- Haribo Gummy Letters : need we justify this?
- You may also enjoy our other post about learning letters – there are a few good edible ideas that would work in an Easter basket.
Do you have any good number or letter ideas for a basket? If so, we’d love to see your ideas in the comments!
Gift Guide : Games for Preschoolers
Today we’re sharing some of our favorite games for preschoolers. I’m on a mission to start family or family+friends game nights in our house. It hasn’t happened yet, mainly because I’m (almost) all talk and no game (hah!). I haven’t invited anyone over, and I haven’t opened an adult game box in years. But behind the scenes, I’m cultivating a few young game-lovers and am slowly building my game-night momentum.
With a 4yo and 2yo in the house, we’re still slightly new to the kids’ game section. Fortunately, I think we’ve already found some great ones. Sometimes we play in the evenings as a family, and I love the together time. But the mom in me also loves that playing games can be used to reinforce other skills that they’re learning. Read on to see what I’m talking about.
This guide contains a few games that we’ve played and liked. If you’re looking for a last-minute gift for a 3-5 yo, I really don’t think you can go wrong with anything on our list. A few are card games, making them perfect stocking stuffers.
Teachable Moments : Beach Reads
Teachable Moments is a relatively new series on the blog, you can find the archive here. You can learn more about Saxis in this selection of posts, and here are more beach book recommendations for adults and kids. If you’d like to see our favorite sun gear for toddlers, click here.
beach time = reading time. #amiright
When we start planning for our time at the beach, my mind immediately turns to the books I’ll read. Hours sitting on the beach provide the uninterrupted reading time that we just don’t seem to find elsewhere in life. Wait, if you’re a parent reading this, that statement is laughable. Who sits still on the beach with two kids? And to that, I say, touché. That’s when you teach your kids about the joys of the beach nap.
But in all seriousness, as the boys have grown, I’ve started to think more intentionally about their beach reads. These boys love a good adventure, and when we’re traveling I find that they fully immerse themselves in the new environment. They aren’t sitting around thinking about Colorado and the mountains; instead, they’re exploring! And what better way could there be to teach them about the place they’re visiting, and the animals and people that live there, than to read books?
I’ve made an effort over the years to stock the beach house with good ocean and bay-related books for the kids. It’s nice to have these books there rather than at home because the stories really come alive when they’re reading about animals that they just saw on the beach and in the marsh. And I know that they can relate to crabbing and fishing adventures when they’ve just spent the afternoon on Poppop’s boat putting bait in the crab pots and casting out their finishing lines.
Below is a list of our current favorites (for reference, the boys are 2 and 4). Admittedly, I’m particularly smitten with books written and illustrated by local artists, so you’ll see quite a few on the list. They add an intimate feel in their descriptions of the place that could never be achieved in a generic book about ocean/beach life.
The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library
I know opinions can vary when it comes to Dr. Seuss. The wording can be awkward and leave you tongue-tied, which is not the best for reading aloud. But it rhymes, and I’m a sucker for a good rhyming text, especially one that’s educational. Each book flows really well after one or two readings.